Northwood women bounce back strong, beat Findlay

Published 7:00 pm, Saturday, January 10, 2009

The energy at the Bennett Center wasn't nearly what it was two days earlier, but Northwood's women didn't let that bother them on Saturday.

The Timberwolves jumped out to a big early lead and cruised to a 72-62 win over Findlay in GLIAC basketball to keep alive their impressive streak of rebounding from losses.

NU hasn't lost back-to-back games since the 2006-07 season and has now won its last 11 games following a loss, dating back to last season.

"That's one of our goals - never to lose two in a row," said NU sophomore center Corrie Brown. "It's big that we won. It just gives us momentum going into the next game."

"They bounce back," Timberwolves' coach Jeff Curtis said of his team. "They seem to be really resilient, and I really credit that to our two seniors (Megan Starnes and Sarah Glowacki). They just make sure that everybody's ready to go."

Following an emotionally-draining 80-76 overtime loss to No. 7 Hillsdale on Thursday, the Timberwolves had little time to regroup before facing an up-and-coming Findlay team.

And they responded with a workmanlike effort - spreading the ball around, capitalizing on the Oilers' miscues, and keeping Findlay from generating any kind of real threat.

"We did have very balanced scoring today, and everybody who went into the game contributed pretty well, so that's a good sign for us," Curtis said. "Our bench continues to play very well for us."

Brown admitted that it wasn't easy to rebound so quickly from Thursday's heartbreaker, but said the Timberwolves did a nice job of focusing on the task at hand.

"That (the Hillsdale game) was emotional," she noted. "But we kind of have a (philosophy) that we leave (the past) in the locker room and just concentrate on the game ahead.

" … I felt like it was kind of a flat game. It wasn't our prettiest game," she added of Saturday's victory. "But a win's a win."

After a slow start, Northwood caught fire in the first half. Six straight points by Jodi Ostergren sparked an 18-0 run which gave the Timberwolves an 18-5 lead.

NU pushed its lead as high as 16 midway through the half before the Oilers scored six straight to make it 25-15. Brown answered with a 3-point play and a strong post bucket to ignite a 12-3 Northwood run, and the Timberwolves eventually went into halftime leading 37-22.

The teams traded baskets throughout the second half, and Findlay was never able to get the deficit below 10.

Despite the double-digit win, Curtis noted that the Oilers are a worthy opponent.

"They're a quality basketball team … that is very capable of playing well," he said. "They're dangerous because they shoot the ball so well from the perimeter. Today, they weren't making their shots, luckily for us."

Northwood point guards Glowacki and Sara Pawlaczyk combined for 11 points and five assists with only one turnover. For the game, the Timberwolves committed only nine turnovers.

"I thought Sara Pawlaczyk did an awesome job when she went in the game. She forced the tempo a little bit and got them (Findlay) into some foul trouble," Curtis said.

" … The thing that really excites me about this game is how well we took care of the ball," he added. "If we continue to take care of the ball down the stretch, we're going to give ourselves a chance (to win every game)."

By contrast, Findlay committed 16 turnovers, and the Timberwolves outscored the Oilers 20-7 off of turnovers.

Northwood also had an advantage at the line, making 25 of 31 free throws to Findlay's 16 of 22.